Letter to Editor: Less is More

by Jeff StierJerusalem Post
December 4, 2012

http://www.jeffstier.org/12651/letter-to-editor-less-is-more

Sir, – In "TAU study: Best to stop smoking, but fewer cigarettes can help, too" (November 26), Judy Siegel reports that Tel Aviv University researchers found that while quitting completely is best, reducing cigarette consumption also provides health benefits. This should be obvious, but as the piece explains, it is a controversial issue.

Many anti-tobacco activists believe in a "quit or die" approach – quit using all tobacco forms completely or we can't help you. This view lacks compassion, is ineffective and, as the study points out, is not based on sound science.

One innovative approach to helping people either reduce the amount they smoke or quit smoking altogether is to encourage them to switch from cigarettes, the most harmful form of tobacco and nicotine use, to less harmful forms, like smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes.

In Sweden, very few people smoke. Instead, they use a less harmful form of smokeless tobacco known as snus. Tobacco- related diseases plummeted after the population switched from smoke to smokeless. Now available in Israel, Swedish-style snus can help Israelis reduce the deadly toll of smoking as well.

The critical fact is that nicotine, while highly addictive, is not the harmful component of tobacco.

Burning tobacco and inhaling it is the most serious risk.

As the TAU study underscores, even if the approach of reducing harm is only partially successful, people who reduce while not entirely eliminating cigarette consumption stand to gain.

JEFF STIER
Washington
The writer is director of the Risk Analysis Division of the National Center for Public Policy Research